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Black on Both Sides Background: “And I'm not really playing by anybody else's rules or trying to live up to anyone's expectations but mine. I'm not even competing with anyone else in terms of, like, this artist or that camp. I'm trying to be better than my last song, not even my last album. I'm trying to be better everyday at what it is that I'm doing. I'm not gonna twist my back into pretzels and question marks to get accolades from the buying public.” Mos Def Hip hop star and award-winning actor hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Mos Def, born Dante Terrell Smith, made a name for himself as a promising hip-hop newcomer in the late 1990s thanks largely to his critically acclaimed solo debut “Black on Both Sides” (1999), which climbed the R&B/Hip Hop Chart. Beginning his musical career in 1994 with the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics, whose members included brother DCQ and sister Ces, he enjoyed success as a solo artist with the single “Universal Magnetic” (1996), which became a big underground favorite, and went on to share a degree of prominence with collaborator Talib Kweli with their debut album, “Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are....Blackstar” (1998). After launching a triumphant career in hip-hop music, Mos Def emerged as a noted actor in such films as “Monster's Ball” (2001), “Brown Sugar” (2002) and “The Italian Job” (2003). He earned a Black Reel Award for his role of Sgt. Lucas in “The Woodsman” (2004) and acquired even more attention with his Emmy and Golden Globe nominated turn as Vivien Thomas on the HBO made-for-TV movie “Something The Lord Made” (2004). His most recent and upcoming films include “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (2005), “16 Blocks” (2006, with Bruce Willis), “Journey to the End of the Night” (2006), “Be Kind Rewind” (2008, with Jack Black), “Mama Black Widow” (2008), “Keep Coming Back” (2008, with Salma Hayek and Steve Buscemi), “The Brazilian Job” (2009), the Danny Glover-directed “Toussaint” (2009) and “Bury Me Standing” (2010). The rapper resumed his musical career by releasing the highly-anticipated sophomore effort “The New Danger” in 2004 and “True Magic” in 2006. He collected Grammy nominations for the singles “Sex, Love & Money” (2005), “Ghetto Rock” (2006) and “Undeniable” (2007) and for his guest appearance in Kanye West's album “Graduation.” Mos Def's new album, “The Ecstatic,” is expected to be released this year (2008). Mos Def is known as a vocal critic on political and social topics. He was married to Maria Yepes from 1996 to 2006 and the couple shares two daughters. He was once romantically involved with former Destiny's Child member Beyonce Knowles. The two acted together in the MTV television movie “Hip Hopera: Carmen” (2001) and will work again on the upcoming musical “Cadillac Records” (2008).
The Mighty Mos Def
Childhood and Family: Dante Terrell Smith, who would later be famous as Mos Def, was born on December 11, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York, to Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman. It was his father that first introduced him to Islam when he was 13 and Mos Def became a Muslim six years later thanks to his affiliation with the group A Tribe Called Quest. He has a younger sister named Ces and a younger brother named DCQ, both of whom also pursued a career in music. In 1996, Mos Def, who is a vegetarian, married Maria Yepes. After having two girls, Chandani and Jauhara Smith, he filed for divorce in 2005. The divorce was legalized in 2006 and starting in January 2006, he was ordered to play $10,000 a month in child support. Reportedly, Mos Def has an additional five kids from other relationships. Mos Def, who acquired the stage name from his prevailing use of an abbreviated 'mos def' in place of the words “most definitely,” is also known by the nicknames Pretty Flaco, The Mighty Mos Def, Flaco Bey and Beze.
Universal Magnetic
Career: Billed as Dante Terrell Smith, Mos Def made his first television appearance at age 15 in the drama film “God Bless the Child” (1988), playing the supporting role of Richard. Two years later, he moved on to play a regular role on the CBS short-lived family sitcom “You Take The Kids” (1990-1991), as the oldest kid Raymond Kirkland, and then had a bit part in the feature film “The Hard Way” (1991), starring Michael J. Fox and James Woods. In 1994, he was cast alongside Bill Cosby in the NBC detective series “The Cosby Mysteries.” It was also in 1994 that Mos Def made his entrance into the world of music with Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), a group he established with younger siblings DCQ and Ces. Although the group only had a short life, the trio managed to launch two singles and record an album called “Manifest Destiny,” which was not released until 2004 when Illson Media acquired it for distribution. His promising talent caught the eye of the Native Tounges family, who invited him to join the group shortly after the disbandment of UTD. By 1996, Mos Def had embarked on his solo career and after appearing as a cameo on De La Soul's “Big Brother Beat” and Bush Babee's “Love Song,” he signed to the newly formed independent label Rawkus and released his first single, “Universal Magnetic,” which made the rapper an underground success. Led by the success of the instant underground classic, Mos Def started his fruitful partnership with Talib Kweli in 1996 and produced the famous “Fortified Live” collaboration. They next joined the group Black Star and released a debut album called “Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are....Blackstar” on August 26, 1998. Spawning such singles as “Definition,” “Twice Inna Lifetime” and “Respiration,” the album reached No. 13 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and was hailed as one of the most critically praised hip-hop albums of the year. “Black on Both Sides,” Mos Def's solo album debut, was released the following year on October 12. An alternative rap album, “Black on Both Sides” was a No. 3 hit on the R&B/Hip Hop Chart, reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200 and received gold status. Meanwhile, Mos Def continued his acting career by appearing in the short film “Ghosts” (1997), which starred king of pop Michael Jackson. He was also seen as Darius in two episodes of CBS' “Brooklyn South” (1997) and costarred with Miguel Ferrer and John Livingston in the Daniel Pyne-helmed comedy/mystery film “Where's Marlowe” (1998). He also appeared with Deion Sanders in a 1997 TV commercial for Visa check card and later that same year, made his first of three appearances in the TV series “NYPD Blue.” In the early 2000s, Mos Def focused on acting. After teaming up with Damon Wayans, Savion Glover and Jada Pinkett Smith in the Spike Lee comedy “Bamboozled” (2000), he was cast alongside fellow singer Beyoncé Knowles and Mekhi Phifer in the made-for-TV-film “Carmen: A Hip Hopera” (MTV, 2001), for director Robert Townsend, and played the supporting role of Ryrus Cooper in the Marc Forster critically acclaimed “Monster's Ball” (2001), from which Halle Berry took home her Best Actress Oscar. 2000 also found him serving as producer, writer and actor on the MTV sketch comedy series, “The Lyricist Lounge Show.” In 2002, Mos Def was featured as the head of a smuggling ring on “Showtime,” a disappointing action/comedy starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy. He earned a Black Reel nomination for Theatrical-Best Independent Actor for his role as Michael Meadows in “Civil Brand,” but it was his next assignment that gained the talented artist his first true notice. Playing a hip hop star named Chris 'Cav' Anton Vichon on the hip-hop culture/romantic comedy “Brown Sugar” (also 2002), he was handed an Image nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture and a Teen Choice nomination for Choice Movie Breakout Star – Male. Still in 2002, Mos Def tried his hand on Broadway by playing the role of Booth in the Tony-nominated, Pulitzer Prize-winning, “Topdog/Underdog,” by Suzan-Lori Parks. He next acquired good reviews for his scene-stealing turn as the kinky Left Ear on the box office hit “The Italian Job” (2003), starring Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron. For his notable portrayal of the disbelieving Detective Sgt. Lucas on the Sundance-premiered “The Woodsman” (2004), starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, he won a Black Reel for Best Actor in Independent Film and a Gotham nomination for Breakthrough Award. He scored further success with his role of Vivien Thomas on the HBO made-for-TV film “Something The Lord Made” (2004), from which he earned an Emmy, Golden Globe, Black Reel, Image and Golden Satellite nomination. Mos Def, who found a new home in Interscope/Geffen Records after the collapse of his previous label, made his return to music with the release of the long-anticipated album “The New Danger” on October 19, 2004, which he collaborated with Black Jack Johnson on a few tracks. The album (No. 2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200) was well-received album by both critics and fans alike and received gold certification from RIAA. The first single “Sex, Love and Money” won Mos Def a 2005 Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. He nabbed an additional Grammy in 2006 for the song “Ghetto Rock,” this time in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance Category. The next year, Mos Def could be seen starring as the Bandleader on the Emmy-nominated TV film “Lackawanna Blues,” adapted from the Ruben Santiago-Hudson autobiographical one man show, and playing Ford Prefect on the highly-anticipated big screen adaptation of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,” where he picked up a Teen Choice nomination for Choice Rap Artist in a Movie. In 2006, he was cast opposite Bruce Willis in Richard Donner's real time action/thriller, “16 Blocks,” and was nominated for a Black Movie award in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role of Eddie Bunker. The same year, he also costarred with Brendan Fraser in the drama/thriller “Journey to the End of the Night” and appeared on the sketch-comedy show “Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes,” which he began in 2003. On December 29, 2006, Mos Def released his third solo album and last album for Geffen Records, “True Magic.” The single “Undeniable” garnered the rapper a Grammy nomination in 2007 for Best Rap Solo Performance. “Mos Definite,” an album containing unreleased songs, was launched on April 30, 2007. By this time, Mos Def had held his hosting gig on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam” for five years. Debuting in 2002, the documentary series also found Mos Def taking the duties of co-executive producer and musical director. Recently, in 2008, Mos Def shared top billing with Jack Black in the comedy film “Be Kind Rewind,” penned and directed by Michel Gondry. He jointly netted a Grammy nomination for his guest appearance on hip hop artist Kanye West’s critically acclaimed album “Graduation” (2007). Mos Def's new album, “The Ecstatic,” is expected to be released in summer 2008. As for acting, he is set to costar in such movies as the action film “Next Day Air” (2008), Darnell Martin's drama/musical “Cadillac Records” (2008, with Adrien Brody and Beyoncé Knowles), the based-on-book “Mama Black Widow” (2008, opposite Kerry Washington) and “Keep Coming Back” (2008), directed by William H. Macy. He will reprise his role of Left Ear on the sequel “The Brazilian Job” (2009) and team up with Danny Glover in his biopic film, “Toussaint” (2009). Other upcoming projects are “Little Scarlet” and “Bury Me Standing,” both of which are set for a 2010 release.
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